In our time, a coif is a kind of hairdo. We say, ’she is wearing an upswept coif ‘if we mean that her hair is arranged in a brushed up look. In medieval times a coif is a tight fitting cap worn under the veil. The nuns wore it in the form of a close fitting cap made of steel or leather. To Medieval men it was part of studded leather armor. In addition to the coif, they wore a chainmail over it calling it a chainmail coif.

The chainmail coif is a headdress made out of metal chain mail. Because it is fashioned out of aluminum it is not really that heavy. It is made of loads of aluminum rings that are either butted or hand riveted. The standard butted design is less expensive but the aluminum rings can be bent and can possibly come uncoupled. The riveted mail is certainly more permanently put together.